NEW YORK (AP) - President-elect Donald Trump appeared to side with controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday, citing the activist's assertion that Russia did not provide his organization with the hacked Democratic emails that roiled the 2016 election.
Trump's latest challenges to the intelligence community - which has assessed Russia interfered in the election on the Republican's behalf - comes as the government rushes to finished a highly anticipated report on the hacking. The president-elect is expected to be briefed on the report Friday by CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Clapper is also testifying on Capitol Hill Thursday. However, he could be limited in what he can say about the report's conclusions given Trump - and perhaps President Barack Obama, who ordered the report - will not have been briefed by the time he steps before lawmakers.
The gulf between the intelligence community's assessment and the public information available to support that assessment has given Trump an opening to question whether Russia was behind hacking of the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, a top aide to campaign rival Hillary Clinton. Trump's resistance has put him at odds with Obama and lawmakers in both parties, raising questions about why an incoming American president appears to believe Russia's denials over the intelligence agencies he will soon oversee.
Spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday that Trump has received "raw data" on the hacking during daily intelligence briefings. However, he said the president-elect was "more skeptical of the conclusions that are drawn."
On Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted about a Fox News interview in which Assange denied Russia provided WikiLeaks with Podesta's emails. WikiLeaks released thousands of Podesta's files throughout the final weeks of the presidential election.
"Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!" Trump wrote.
Trump names
Wall Street lawyer Clayton as SEC chairman
WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday chose a Wall Street attorney with experience in corporate mergers and public stock launches as his nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Trump announced his nomination of Jay Clayton, a partner in the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, as chairman of the independent agency that oversees Wall Street and the financial markets. If confirmed by the Senate, his responsibilities will include enforcing the scores of rules already written by the agency under the 2010 law that reshaped financial regulation after the 2008-09 crisis.
The law, known as Dodd-Frank, has long been scorned by Republicans and is high on Trump's target list.
Clayton has worked on many of the securities deals the SEC regulates and has represented Wall Street powerhouses including Goldman Sachs and Barclays.
$180M retirement
package as Tillerson, Exxon part ways
NEW YORK (AP) - Rex Tillerson will get a $180 million retirement package from Exxon Mobil Corp. if he is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state.
Tillerson will give up more than 2 million Exxon shares he would have received over the next 10 years. In exchange, the company will make a cash payment equal to the value of those shares to a trust to be overseen by a third party.
Exxon said Wednesday that Tillerson has already promised the State Department he will sell another 611,000 shares he currently owns, worth about $55 million at Wednesday's price, if confirmed. His Senate confirmation hearing begins next week.
Tillerson's selection raised potential conflict-of-interest issues because Exxon has business interests around the globe, including Russia. Putting his retirement nest egg into a trust is intended to ease concerns Tillerson could make decisions as secretary of state that would financially help himself or his former associates.